Reporting News and opinions
Speaker Edo State House of Assembly Blessing Sheriff Agbebaku How Governors Became Kings and Assemblies Became Yes-people. Ah, the “rubber stamp” that delightful term in Nigeria’s democratic theatre, where lawmaking meets the executive like a eager intern stamping “APPROVED” on every memo. Far from a harmless office gag, it’s a glowing indictment of institutional surrender. …
Continue reading "The Persistent Comedy of “Rubber Stamp” Legislatures in Nigeria by Lawson Akhigbe"
There is an eternal, almost Newtonian law of modern politics: wherever a politician loudly proclaims they are "standing up for the forgotten working man," you will inevitably find a discreet corner table in a private Mayfair club where someone is eagerly trying to launder foreign money.
Chief Daniel Osi Orbih is dead, and Edo State’s political class has responded the way it always does when one of its own departs: with a grief so generous it retroactively forgives everything the man ever did. Orbih passed away on Monday, 31 August 2026, at the age of 64, and within hours the condolences arrived in a queue, each one more magnanimous than the last, as though the deceased had spent his career building roads rather than blocking them.
The intersection of law and politics in Nigeria is profound and longstanding. Lawyers have disproportionately shaped the country’s political landscape, from pre-independence nationalism to post-1999 democratic governance. Legal training emphasizing advocacy, constitutional interpretation, negotiation, evidence-based reasoning, and oratory equips practitioners exceptionally well for political roles. This pattern reflects both the profession’s prestige and Nigeria’s constitutional emphasis on legal expertise in governance.
If you had told a political scientist thirty years ago that a lineup featuring Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Donald Trump, and Bola Ahmed Tinubu would simultaneously dictate the fortunes, policies, and discourse of major world democracies, they would have recommended you take a quiet walk and a cold shower. Yet here we are, sitting in the front row of a geopolitical comedy-drama where the plot is made up and the rules don't seem to matter.
Centre for Nigeria Progress 